


Broken Arm, Fixed Heart

by gingayellow



Series: Shiro and Keith are Married and Happy and Okay and Everyone Else is Happy and Okay Post-Series AU [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 23:13:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12994608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingayellow/pseuds/gingayellow
Summary: Shiro is getting older. So's his arm. [Shiro/Keith, more "Married Husbands" post-series AU, some referenced past trauma]





	Broken Arm, Fixed Heart

Title: Broken Arm, Fixed Heart  
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender  
Characters/Pairing: Shiro/Keith  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: Not mine, anything mentioned here by name isn't mine  
Warnings: Referenced past trauma  
Notes: Post-series marriage AU, characters are obviously aged up as a result: Shiro is 36, Keith is 29. For hc_bingo, prompt is "broken bones."

 

The worst part of it was that it happened again when Shiro was putting away dishes.

He was putting Keith’s favorite coffee (the one Hunk and Shay’s eldest child had made for Keith, with an amorphous but cheerful red hippo painted on the ceramic) when his right arm did it. Again. There was an odd buzzing sound, and then white-hot pain shot up his arm, cybernetic nerves going numb as the mug hit the ground, shattering instantly.

 _Geez, this is going to break Keith’s heart_ he thought, focusing on the mug’s fragments, so he wouldn’t scream again.

Pidge had warned him about this. Matt had warned him about this. His arm wasn’t state of the art—it was an old weapon that had seen too much use, and it needed regular maintenance—as Hunk kept reminding him in his messages. But only a few people knew how to fix it, and he didn’t want to put them out. Or in Kolivan’s case, let him near Keith. 

And besides, it wasn’t that bad. It just messed up sometimes, and he always got better. He—

The pain was so bad that had had to scream again.

“Shiro?!” Keith ripped off his work gloves, eyes wide with panic. Great. So not only was Shiro in mind-numbing agony because of a weapon that had been forced on him after he was literally kidnapped by aliens, now his husband was worried. Great.

So, he did what any married man (just barely) over thirty-five would do. He managed a smile and said, “Baby, I broke my arm while playing tennis. Guess I’ll never make regionals now.” Well. He assumed tennis had regionals.

“Shut up.” Keith’s tone was sharp, but his touch was shamefully gentle as the took the metal arm in his right hand, with a tool in his left one. “If I don’t do this right, you arm might be messed up permanently.”

“Hm. So I wouldn’t have to worry about a weapon attached to my body anymore. Tragic.” 

Keith snarled.

“Sorry.” Shiro had accepted his arm, mostly. “But making morbid jokes is how I cope.”

“I said shut up.” Keith’s voice was ice as he opened a panel, and went to work. He didn’t have Hunk’s confidence concerning engineering, but he was focused. Shiro didn’t even know he could do this.

“Yes, sir.” Shiro kept his voice soft. “How…how did you learn this?” Because Shiro didn’t know how to fix his arm beyond the basic level, and there was no one on Arus who could teach Keith.

“Hunk’s been teaching me over the comm.” He gave Shiro a look. “He said it was that I needed to know, because you haven’t seen him, or Pidge, or Matt, or anyone else who could repair your arm since your last maintenance check.”

“I know. I just.” Shiro took a breath. “I don’t like the memories it brings up.”

Keith didn’t look at him. “I get that. But I don’t like yet another reminder of my husband’s mortality.”

Oh.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said, for what good it did.

“I am, too.” Keith still wasn’t looking at him, but his tone was softer. “If I’d known, I would have…” 

“Keith, it’s fine.”

“I don’t know if this would help, but,” Keith looked at him, for just a moment. “But now I can do this for you. There’s no need to ask anyone else; we can take care of your arm here at home. And I could get Hunk to teach me the other stuff about keeping your arm running, so—” 

“Keith.” Shiro put his left hand on Keith’s arm. “I appreciate it, but I don’t want you to feel obligated.” Before Keith could say something sweet but foolish like how that was all part of marriage (it wasn’t, it was about working together), Shiro added, “How about you teach me?” He couldn’t pretend this wasn’t a problem anymore—or that someone with the expertise would always be nearby when his arm acted up again. “Then I can do something nice for you. Like, um, try to fix your mug.”

“Oh no,” Keith whispered as he glanced at the remains. “Hawk worked so hard, too.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that you’re going to learn how to take care of your arm before you destroy all of our dishes, isn’t it?” Keith huffed, and closed the panel. “Okay, Hunk says that you’re supposed to make a fist, bend at the elbow, and activate it as the lowest setting.” Shiro did as Keith instructed, and there was no pain. He was a little sensitive as his arm glowed purple, but he knew from experience that was to be expected. “Thank you, Keith. This means a lot.” He hated making himself seen that way. Vulnerable. Unable to stop what the Galra had done to him. But Keith knew that, and still accepted him. Even before they were married.

Shiro didn’t resist as Keith helped him up by his left arm. “I’ll sweep, and you hold the dustpan?”

Keith nodded. “Then we can see if we can fix the mug.”

“Keith, I can do that.”

“Your power hand is still sensitive.” Keith kissed his cheek. “And we’ll work together.”

\--

Final Notes: There's no real "reading order" (at least not yet lol), but yeah! Shiro is 36 and Keith is 29 in this verse.


End file.
